Excerpt: "Tom Coughlin was asked this week about the intangibles Ahmad Bradshaw brings to his football team.

“You asked me questions you already know the answer to,” was the coach’s response.Anyone who has watched Bradshaw run the ball for the Giants over the last six seasons knows the answer, too. He is as much the heart and soul of the Giants as any player on the team. His competitive spirit is infectious, an energy this teammates feed on.

“When he plays, he plays with fire,” Coughlin said. “He plays with determination. He’s focused. He’s extremely physical. He takes great pride in that aspect of the game. For him, he takes great pride in defying what anyone says he can’t do. He’s someone on the sideline that’s not very patient and is not afraid to make a few comments about it.”

There was that brief spat earlier in the season when Bradshaw snapped at his head coach when he felt the Giants weren’t running the ball enough.There was the slap on the head of Victor Cruz when he felt the receiver wasn’t exactly at full throttle.The Giants missed his leadership and demand for accountability in Atlanta last week where they were embarrassed in a 34-0 loss. It’s why they were bubbling with optimism yesterday as Bradshaw returned to practice after vowing to play with a sprained knee in tomorrow’s game in Baltimore.

“We’d love to have him out there,” said offensive lineman Chris Snee, himself questionable for tomorrow’s game. “I don’t know what the official word is yet, but it’s a good sign that he was out there [at practice]. His passion for the game rubs off on everyone. He’s got tremendous energy and just his physical play inspires people. So I sure hope that he makes the trip down with us and we’re running out of the tunnel together because his energy is infectious.” Read more...